The Two Sides of Darkness
by ThereIsAChair
Summary: Izuku Midoriya has a quirk, a powerful one at that. But a short time after his quirk developed, he has an accident that leaves him with Disaccioative Identity Disorder. Now he has to figure out how to live his life and become a hero!
1. Who Ever Said Karma Is Fair?

Izuku Midoriya was the only one in his class who hadn't had his quirk develop yet. Every day and every night before he went to sleep, he told himself that one day his quirk would come and he'd be able to become a hero.

That day did come, but it soon turned out to be both the best and worst day of his life.

It was any other day at his kindergarten, with the resident bully, Katsuki Bakugou starting on his first victim of the day.

Once again, Izuku couldn't let him do that. If he wanted to be a hero, he had to act like one. Trying to get his always quavering voice under control, Izuku uttered out,

"S-stop, Kacchan! You're being really mean!"

Katsuki stopped and looked up to see who had said it, though he already knew who. A sneer showed on his face.

"Oh yeah? What are you going to do about it?"

Izuku gulped, but raised his fists nonetheless."I'm going to stop you!"

The blond haired boy stared at him for a moment before bursting out laughing, his lackeys joining in. Katsuki gave a few last laughs before growling,

"I'd like to see you try. Everyone knows you're quirkless. What are you gonna do? Cry me away?"

Katsuki fell into another fit of laughter. He raised his hand and sparks flew off his palm. "I hope you're ready for a beating!"

Izuku gave a yelp as Katsuki ran towards him, explosions already going off in his hands. What was he going to do? He had no means to protect himself. Instead, he closed his eyes and raised his arms over his face.

He expected the usual burn and impact of a fist against his skin, but Izuku felt nothing at all. He opened his eyes tentatively. Was this a new trick? Was Katsuki waiting for him to lower his guard?

None of that happened. Instead, Katsuki was looking at Izuku with confusion and surprise.

It took Izuku a short while to realize what he was looking at. He lowered his arms and his eyes widened at what he saw on them. A hardened black mass covered his forearms and spikes seemed to be protruding from them.

"What...What is this?" Izuku examined them in amazement. Was this his doing? Did he have a quirk? A quirk! "I-I have a quirk!" He couldn't help the excitement in his voice.

"Deku…" For once Katsuki's voice wasn't full of arrogance or meanness. It was...normal.

But Izuku didn't have time to think about that. He had a quirk! Looking back down at his arms, he pressed a finger against one of the spikes. It was sharp and Izuku jerked his finger away with a yelp.

The material was weird. Looking closely at it showed that it seemed to be swirling around, but it was as hard as concrete.

But how did he turn it off? Izuku didn't even know how he activated it himself. What if they were there forever? That would be a downside. He strained for a moment, imagining it being sucked back into his skin. That's where it came from, right?

Somewhat correct. Instead of sinking straight into his skin, the mass seemed to melt and swirl up towards the palm of his hands. That was where it returned to his body.

When all the black gunk was gone, all that was left was a perfect black circle, which took up most of the space on his palm, on each hand.

Izuku stared at his hands and gave them another examination. The dark pools only seemed to be on one side and Izuku wasn't able to poke through it.

At that point, one of the children that had gathered around Izuku and Katsuki had gone inside to tell a teacher and he was now outside, kneeling next to Izuku.

He took one of Izuku's hands in his and looked at it himself. "Wow, Izuku! Your quirk manifested! I guess you were just a late bloomer after all! I have to say, your quirk is quite cool!"

Izuku beamed with pride. "T-thank you!" Yes, he was just a late bloomer! He couldn't even believe this was happening. Repeating it in his head just solidified that feeling.

The next few days were full of Izuku being praised by his peers, teachers, and people in his neighborhood. He used almost all of his free time analyzing his quirk and figuring out what he could do.

So far, he had figured out the black pools on his palms seemed to be where the stuff came from. He didn't know how much was there, but if he made too much come out, then he became dizzy and tired.

Izuku learned that calling it black goo and "stuff" was kinda confusing. So he decided to name it "Void". He was proud of himself for coming up with it and found it "hero worthy".

He soon found out that he could make Void come out and solidify into whatever he wanted, as long as it was still attached to him. Tendrils, claws, blades, fists, and spikes were the ones he learned how to make first.

That was all he was able to discover in the week after his quirk manifested. Izuku found that one hero that had a quirk somewhat similar to him was Blood King, a hero that could manipulate his own blood. Izuku took extra notes on him, trying to understand his own quirk.

After his quirk developed, Izuku hadn't seen or talked to Katsuki at all. Whether Katsuki was actively ignoring him or there were too many people talking to him every day. Either way, it made Izuku sad.

Some part of his wanted a quirk so that Katsuki would stop bullying him and realize his worth and they could actually become friends. But Izuku saw none of this but made friends with others instead.

A couple of weeks later, when the initial buzz of getting his quirk wore off and he was back to being in the background. At least he wasn't being bullied anymore. And he could even stand up for others like a good hero would.

He came to regret that mindset after his unfortunate accident.

Katsuki wasn't blatantly ignoring him anymore, but still teased and made fun of him. But to Izuku, it brought back that feeling of normalcy.

After school, Izuku, Katsuki, and a couple of their friends were out in the woods. Like always, Katsuki was in front, and Izuku was in the rear. But that was okay since Izuku wasn't suited for leadership positions.

"This way!" Katsuki shouted, pointing his finger towards a fallen log over a river. It looked kinda high up, and Izuku didn't feel comfortable walking on it.

Katsuki started across the log, confidence in his step and a big grin on his face. Izuku wished he could be that brave.

Q

Izuku stepped tentatively on the log, balancing himself. Things were going well. That is until Katsuki's foot slipped and he tumbled off of the log.

Before Izuku even knew what was going on, he jumped down after Katsuki and reached his arm out.

"Kacchan!" Void shot out from Izuku's hand and formed into tendrils that grabbed Katsuki by the waist and moved towards the other side of the river.

Katsuki was gently put down on the grass and the void returned to his body. Izuku, on the other hand, was still falling towards the river. He let out a scream and hit the bottom head first. Izuku passed out instantly.

He woke up hours later in the hospital, with his mother beside him.

"Izuku! Thank goodness you're all right!" She grabbed him into a fierce hug.

It turned out that after he had lost consciousness, someone had taken him to his mother. Izuku was surprised to learn that it was Katsuki.

Izuku hadn't expected that at all but was grateful nonetheless. He was going to thank him when he got back to school.

Izuku stayed in the hospital for about a week, learning that he had gotten a concussion and cut his head on the rocks at the bottom of the river. He had to get stitches in a couple of places on his head.

When the doctors thought he was well enough to go home, they sent him out with instructions to not mess with the stitches. Easy enough for him.

Back at school, Izuku was bombarded by his peers, all asking what happened and about his stay at the hospital. He answered their questions but noticed that Katsuki wasn't even close to where the others were.

In fact, he was acting aloof, sitting alone at his desk and staring out the window with a bored look on his face. Izuku couldn't work up the courage to talk to Katsuki, not in front of all these people.

So he waited until after school to catch him.

"K-Kacchan. I came to say thank you for helping me after I fell." Izuku wrenched his hands together, unsure if this was the right way to go about it.

Katsuki stared at him for a moment before turning and walking out the door. "Yeah, sure, whatever."

It wasn't much of a" you're welcome" but, it was still nice to hear it from Katsuki.

Later that day, when he was at home and writing in one of his notebooks, flashes of pain kept appearing in Izuku's head, to the point where he had to stop and lie down.

He laid there, clutching his head and trying not to cry from the pain. But that was hard to do since it was so immense.

As quickly as it started, it stopped, leaving Izuku with a cool feeling in his brain. He sat up and took deep breaths, wondering if that was a result of his fall.

 **Something like that.**

Izuku jumped at the voice. It sounded bored and had somewhat of a droning voice. But no one in the house was capable of making that sound.

 **Well, there is now.**

"Who are you? Where are you?" Izuku looked around his room, trying to see if anyone was there, but it was only him.

 **I...Call me Dagger. I now live in your mind. Or brain if you wanna get factual.**

"Dagger? But what do you mean you live in my brain?"

 **I live in your brain, dimwit!** Dagger's voice was loud and resonated in his skull. **I don't know how** **it happened, but it seems that I'm here now.**

Izuku mulled over this for a moment. "So, are you like a voice in my head?"

 **Yes, exactly like that.**

Izuku decided that the best course of action was to tell his mother. He had no idea what had happened to him. Maybe it was because he fell that one day. Could you even get something like that just from hitting his head?

Turned out that it was. The doctors said that the voice in his head was an auditory hallucination, which opened up a few possibilities of what he had.

The doctors weren't able to give him a clear diagnosis, so they sent him home, telling him to return if something else occurred.

Most of Izuku's attempts to talk to Dagger were shot down with a **"Shut it."** or **"Leave me alone."** Dagger reminded Izuku of Katsuki, with his confident demeanor and aloofness.

The days went by fast, with only minor occurrences, like Dagger talking to him. It was never more than that, so he never went back to the doctor.

But one day, all of that changed.

Katsuki was the first to notice. He knew Izuku enough to notice. Never had Izuku walked with confidence in his step. Izuku walked with his head and actually made eye contact. Katsuki found him unnerving, so he stopped him on the way to class.

"Oi, Deku! What the hell is wrong with you?" Katsuki crossed his arms and gave him a glare.

Izuku didn't even seem fazed, which was mother warning sign on Katsuki's part. "What do you mean, Kacchan? I'm as normal as ever." Izuku flashed a smirk and Katsuki knew this wasn't him.

Izuku's eyes were darker and narrowed, not like how large and bright they usually were. "Huh, you saw through me, huh? I knew you would. Izuku was right about one thing I suppose."

Katsuki watched with wary eyes as Izuku walked towards him. "My name is Dagger." He held out a hand for Katsuki you take, but Katsuki didn't reach for it.

Dagger scowled and returned his hand to his side. "Well then, it was nice to meet you too, you ass."

Katsuki's eyes flared and he growled. "What the hell did you say, Deku?"

Dagger himself growled. "I'm not Izuku, bitch! Didn't I just fucking say that?"

Katsuki didn't like how Dagger was talking to him. He raised a fist, spark already going off.

Dagger raised a hand of his own, Void coming out of the palm and forming a claw around his hand. He made a move towards Katsuki, but suddenly he clutched his head with his other hand.

"Fucking Izuku. I got this! I'm handling this!" He gave a groan of pain and gave a sigh of defeat. His other hand fell and Void returned to his hand. "Sorry, Katsuki. Izuku doesn't want me to play with you." He left before Katsuki could even react or say anything.

That was the first time that Dagger had taken control, but it certainly wasn't the last.

Multiple times a week, the two would switch control. The time they had under control always changed. Sometimes Izuku would prevail for two days and Dagger for half of a day.

It didn't take long for someone other than Katsuki to notice. Izuku's mother had noticed as well, and when Dagger could answer questions about Izuku's life, she took him to the hospital.

While there, they finally were able to give Izuku a diagnosis. After taking into account his past symptoms, they told him that he had Dissociative Identity Disorder.

Both Izuku and Dagger learned that Dagger was a separate personality, created sometime after Izuku had hit his head.

Izuku found this discerning. How was he going to become a hero if he switched who he was every so often?

Once again, he was hugged by his crying mother who was saying, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Izuku."


	2. So, You Want To Be A Hero Well, Too Bad

Following his diagnosis, his teachers were informed, which meant the school was informed, so they knew what was going on with him.

Izuku knew that it was supposed to calm everyone down, but it seemed to have the opposite effect. By the end of his kindergarten year, he had been shunned by his classmates, treated as if he was a dangerous psychopath.

Which wasn't far from the truth. At least when dealing with Dagger. Dagger was obviously the more confident of the two. He acted like Katsuki in many ways but was still different from him.

In the years leading up to middle school, Izuku had become timider and the difference between the two personalities was more distinguishable. Dagger wasn't much of a problem to anyone. The only person he talked to willingly was Katsuki or anyone he thought was looking at him funny. Which in his case, was anyone with eyes.

Izuku had developed their quirk in this time, at least whenever he was in control. Dagger had no interest in developing their quirk and spent more time destroying things with it.

Dagger had never tried to hurt anyone unprovoked and spent time breaking things in the woods. It was the closest thing to training they could get. It wasn't like a hero would fall out of the sky and offer to train them.

Not that any hero would want to train them. Who would want to train someone who had such a condition?

Izuku knew that's what others thought of them. Dagger could care less about what people thought of him but would get angry at any mean mention of Izuku. Sometimes they would switch spontaneously, just because of that reason. One major factor why people were afraid of him.

That was one of Izuku's greatest insecurities, one that he could never fix about himself. He did feel bad when he thought this, due to Dagger being in his mind all the time.

Near the end of his final year of middle school, Izuku had taken it while the rest of the kids in his class stared at him. They knew not to laugh, that would bring out Dagger, but the looks on their faces said the same thing.

 _Really?_

 _The psycho wants to go to U.A?_

 _He'll probably get kicked for killing someone._

Izuku frowned to himself and kept his head low. As long as he didn't acknowledge it, it wouldn't bother him.

 **Ya know, that's the same thing they do to you.** Dagger mused.

 _They don't do that._ Izuku thought though he knew the answer was true.

 **They think that if they ignore you, I won't come out and get them**.

 _Well, don't do that! That's why they're all afraid of us._

 **No, they're afraid of the condition you have. Even if I was another little goodie two shoes like you, they'd still be scared out of their minds.**

"Deku! Are you talking to yourself again?" Katsuki yelled from across the room. With the guise of protection from him, some other students in class joined in with laughs.

Izuku flushed red. He must've been making that face again. The glazed far off look one. It was a clear sign to anyone he knew that he was talking to Dagger. But why did Katsuki have to say it like that?

"I, um, I don't-" Izuku started rambling, but was soon cut off by Katsuki.

"You can't go to U.A! You're a crazy freak! They can't let someone like you in!"

Izuku felt tears rise and spill out on his face, but didn't feel much after that. They had switched again.

"Oh yeah?!" Dagger jumped out of the chair and stomped over to where Katsuki was. "You think they'll let in a standard bully like you? I didn't know they included a villain course!"

"What?" Katsuki growled and stood from his own chair, clenching his fist."That's!" He stopped looking for an answer and lunged at Dagger.

Dagger ducked and rolled out of the way. "Izuku said not to fight you, so I need to uphold that promise. Not that you'd understand that." He grumbled out, not even truly focusing on him.

Katsuki tried again, but Dagger spun away and kicked over a desk to his right. "FUCK you guys!" He bared his teeth at the nearest student, who yelled and ran away to the other side of the room.

"Midoriya!" The teacher said in a stern tone. Dagger shoved a couple more desks and chairs over before slowing his panting breath and turning towards the teacher.

"Whatever, Sensei." He shoved his hands into his pockets and sat back in his chair.

Dagger sent a glare across the room, landing them on Katsuki, who was returning the glare with the same intensity.

Katsuki grudgingly returned to his own seat and growled under his breath.

Luckily, no detentions were given and the two switched before the day was over. Izuku apologized to Katsuki, his classmates, and his teacher, but the damage was done and they were scared of him more than ever.

Izuku packed away his things with the heavy feeling of distraught. What if everyone was right? What if he was unable to become a hero? U.A couldn't decline him just for a condition he had, could they?

 **Just shut up, Izuku. You'll be a hero. A fucking awesome hero. Stop with this… doubt. It sucks ass. What you feel, I feel, and let me tell you, doubt fucking sucks. So get yourself together and fucking do it… whatever you have to do.**

Dagger wasn't the best at motivational speeches, but it helped Izuku regain a bit of his own confidence.

"Yeah. Thank you, Dagger." Izuku gave a smile, even though Dagger couldn't see it, he knew it was there.

 **Yeah, yeah. Now get the hell out of here.**

"And, Dagger… you need to stop switching out of nowhere and scaring everyone." Izuku said tentatively as if he was talking to a toddler who had just had a tantrum.

 **Hmm. Maybe. If That's what you want.**

Izuku gave a sigh of relief. Maybe Dagger has finally matured enough to keep his anger under control. But after that morning, Izuku didn't find that likely.

Izuku took out his phone to look at the latest hero news and take notes. His latest analysis notebook was in his other hand but was taken from his grasp.

He looked up to see Katsuki holding his notebook. But it was soon turned into char as he exploded it.

"Ah, Kacchan!" Izuku reached for it but jerked it back towards his head. "Wait, no, Dagger, you promised!" The pain subsided and he reached back for his notebook. "Please give it back."

"It's still you, Deku?! I guess your crazy side can't save you all the time." Katsuki laughed and threw the charred notebook out the window." Don't try out for U.A. Your crazy side will end up getting you killed. You'd be better off doing it yourself."

Katsuki and his lackeys left, leaving Izuku alone in the classroom. Izuku gave a deep sigh, lowering his head.

 **Fucking ass.**

Even Izuku didn't have an answer for that. He grabbed his backpack and went outside to find his notebook. He hoped it wasn't too damaged to where he couldn't even write in it anymore.

Izuku found it drenched at the bottom of the school pond. It wasn't that bad, but it still felt terrible to him. Was Katsuki right? Should he really…?

 **Of course not!** Izuku jumped at the tone **. He just doesn't want you to succeed. You think if all the heroes go were told that, stopped? No! So that goes for you too.**

Izuku only nodded meekly and started walking towards his house. His mother would help him feel better.

It was probably a bad idea to take the secluded way home, but Izuku was not in the right state of mind, in more ways than one.

A sludge monster, one that had just escaped All Might's clutches, and looking for a body to snatch, found Izuku walking alone.

It jumped through the sewer grate and wrapped itself around him. Izuku's eyes widened then narrowed. The one hand that was free was raised and Void traveled out, twinning itself around his body and becoming large spikes.

"Ha!" The sludge monster chuckled. "You're going to have to do better than that! You think these will stop me?" True to his word, the spikes did not do much of anything, as the sludge just formed around it.

The erratic trashing and growls coming from the boy did unnerve the monster. Wasn't this meat sack just the downtrodden one from just a second ago?

Before he could even think about that, a strong blast of wind hit the two, causing the sludge monster to fly off. He tried to get away but was quickly caught in a bottle by none other than All Might.

"Are you okay boy?"

Izuku blinked for a moment, then became a stuttering mess. "A-All M-Might! It's really you!"

"Of course it is! If there is any evil, I will dispose of it, because I am here!" All Might pointed at the sky.

Izuku couldn't believe it. This was the chance of a lifetime. His idol was here, right in front of him and h just had to ask. "All Might. Do you think-" He was cut off by All Might shoving his notebook to his face.

"Already done!" Scrawled over the page was the signature of All Might. Izuku took it as if it was a treasure, which it was to him. But that wasn't what he was going to ask.

Before he could even try to ask again, All Might began to walk away, ready to jump into the sky. "Well, it was nice meeting you, but I need to take this guy in!"

"Wait!" Izuku started but was interrupted, this time by Dagger.

 **Go after him! You said you wanted to ask him something, right?**

Izuku stood there with indecision before he ran after All Might and grabbed onto him, just as he took off. Of course, flying through the air wasn't for passengers, so Izuku held on for dear life as the wind threw him around.

"All Might! Please stop! I have to ask you something!" Izuku yelled at the top of his lungs, hoping All Might would hear him. Luckily, the wind wasn't loud enough to obscure his voice.

"Huh? What the heck are you doing kid? You'll die if you fall off!" That wasn't very assuring news to hear, but soon after that, All Might dropped down to the top of a building to let Izuku down.

Izuku held his knees to steady himself before speaking. "All Might, I have something to ask you."

"Well, since we're already here, go ahead."

"I...have a quirk. But, that's not where my troubles lie. I have this medical condition and it does make things hard for both me and people around me. Do you think I can still be a hero?" Izuku looked up at All Might hopefully.

All Might looked back at Izuku with a soft look on his face. "I'm sorry. I don't think you can become a hero. Maybe you can work in another department or even get a new job entirely."

"Oh… I see." Izuku sighed and hung his head. If All Might said it, it had to be true. Izuku wasn't cut out to be a hero after all.

 **That's bull…THAT'S BULL. HE CAN'T TELL YOU THAT. ISN'T HE THE SYMBOL OF PEACE? HE'S SUPPOSED TO INSPIRE PEOPLE. NOT...crush their dreams.**

Izuku frowned. Was even Dagger upset over this? He didn't seem like he cared about hero things. Izuku raised his head and steadied himself to leave, but was caught in a mist of smoke.

"What is this?" When the smoke cleared, all that was left was a frail blond man wearing clothes way too big for his form.

"Agh, my time limit ran out again." He said before coughing out a pool of blood. Izuku screamed and ran over to him.

"Are you okay? Do you need me to get help? Where's All Might? Did he...wait a minute!" Izuku looked at the sickly man. It could be him. If he shrunk. But how could this be All Might?

The man gave a deep sigh. "Yeah, it's me, All Might "

"B-but you're…all small!" Izuku pointed at his form.

"After the villain gave this injury to me," All Might lifted his shirt to reveal a giant scar. ", I haven't been able to sustain my 'Hero form' for very long."

Izuku gaped at him for a long moment, unable to create words.

"Do you think you could keep this a secret? If this gets out, the villains will become even more active." All Might couldn't really force Izuku to keep it secret and was surprised when Izuku replied with,

"Of course, All Might! I'll never tell anyone!" Izuku stood straight up to show his seriousness.

All Might gave a somber nod and turned back into his hero form. He felt around or the bottle that was supposed to be at his waist and a noise came from his throat. "Great. The bottle must have come off when you grabbed on." He took no more time and jumped off of the building with a gust of wind behind him.

Izuku stumbled and fell on his butt, looking at All Might become farther and farther away.

 **Wow. He really left us up here.**

The sludge monster that escaped from All Might yet again was trying his hardest to escape from the bottle he was trapped in. He was filled with relief as a boy with spiky ash blonde hair kicked the bottle, making the cap come off.

Sludge poured out of the bottle and grabbed onto him. Explosions went off in his hands but didn't do anything as the sludge covered him.

"That's a nice quirk there. I'm sure you won't mind if I borrow it." The boy was soon immobilized and the sludge monster now had a new flash suit.

Izuku had walked down at least twenty flights of stairs after All Might left him on the roof. He was making his way home once again when he saw the crowd of people and sounds of police cars.

He walked over to see what was causing the commotion and was met with the sludge monster, who had taken another person hostage. Izuku's eyes widened as he realized who it was.

The explosions coming from him should've been the first clue, but looking straight at his face confirmed it. Katsuki was the hostage!

Izuku couldn't let this stand. Even though he was scared out of his mind, he began to step forward, thoughts rushing through his mind as he did.

The sludge itself didn't have a physical form, so attacking it would do nothing. But there had to be something. The eyes!

Izuku threw his bag at the monster, a few of his school supplies hitting it in the eye. His hand shot up and void swirling around it, forming tendrils that tried to grab Katsuki out of the villain's grasp.

"Deku! What the hell are you doing?"

"Saving you! It looked like you needed help!"

As Izuku struggled with saving Katsuki, All Might stood in his regular form. He had powered down during his search and now had to watch as Izuku jumped into the fray. If he could do it, All Might certainly could.

Transforming into his hero form, he jumped into the battlefield. Rearing his arm back, he shouted, "DETROIT SMASH!"

The force of the wind destroyed the sludge villain, letting Katsuki free. Izuku caught him with tendrils and laid him down on the ground. Izuku himself caught his breath and turned to All Might.

"You made it! I thought you were still powered down because of me." Izuku panted as the Void returned to him.

"A hero must always be ready to take risks. Even if he may die." All Might said, giving Izuku a look of admiration.

Izuku was soon swarmed by a bunch of heroes and news reporters all ask him questions. All Might escaped through the crowd.

Both Izuku and Katsuki were praised for their efforts at defended themselves against the sludge monster. Izuku felt good to be praised for once.

Later that day, Izuku met up with All Might. He put a hand on Izuku's shoulder and said,

"You, my boy, are the one who saved your friend."

"Me?" Izuku was taken aback.

"Yes. You were the one who figured out his weakness and jumped in to help, even when you knew you had a condition. Moving before you can think to save someone: a quality every good hero has."

Izuku felt tears come to his eyes, this time them being happy tears.

"And I've come to the conclusion that, yes, even you can become a hero."

Izuku let the waterworks flow.


	3. Good 'Ol Teenage Rebellion

Izuku felt like he was flying. The number one hero, All Might, had said that he could become a hero. Even Dagger had quieted down. Izuku couldn't even feel the blanketed feeling there always was after the personalities swapped.

"Yes. You are worthy of inheriting my quirk and becoming my successor." All Might added and Izuku looked up at him in confusion.

"My quirk, One For All, can be passed down from person to person and I have chosen you." All Might explained. Izuku smiled for a moment but then hung his head.

"But why would you give it someone like me? There are so many other people worthy of this and I already have a quirk." Izuku didn't deserve something like this. He wasn't even in true control of his own quirk.

"You may have your own quirk, but so did all the other heroes on the scene. You were the only one who stepped up and fought. I do not mind giving it to you."

Izuku stared up at All Might before vigorously nodding. If All Might deemed he was worthy of it, who was he to decline?

All Might had told Izuku that before he would be able to inherit One For All, he would have to go through intense physical training. Izuku himself had only done physical training every once in a while, more focused on quirk training. Dagger was the one who did that, though it wasn't that often anymore. For some reason, Dagger had become quite unresponsive and he hardly did anything when they switched.

Izuku found that alarming. Dagger wasn't one to just sit around and be quiet. Perhaps something was going on with him? But Dagger had learned to block his thoughts from Izuku, leaving just a low buzz and sharp pricks of pain every now and then.

Izuku found that was easy to ignore with all of the training he was now doing with All Might. He was tasked with cleaning up the Takoba Seaside bay, but without the use of his quirk. He had looked at the beach in awe discovering all the trash and junk, big and small that was there. Ten months didn't seem like enough time.

But he had to try. If this was what would make or break it for him to be the successor of All Might then this was what he was going to have to do.

The first few months moved agonizingly slow due to Izuku's average strength not to mention the days where Dagger was in control. He seemed to have no motivation at all to clean up the beach, much less for inheriting One For All. Izuku had to beg Dagger to go down to the beach and continue the training. Dagger complied most of the time but was always accompanied by complaints.

Soon, Izuku's body was becoming more toned and muscular. The training along with the new diet to help left Izuku with a body that was more than capable of gaining All Might's power.

The day of the entrance exam, Izuku had jogged to the now clean beach to meet up with All Might. Excited couldn't begin to describe how Izuku felt. But in the back of his mind, he felt the smoldering pool of negative emotions that could only be Dagger. Izuku had no idea why he was feeling this way but found comfort in the presence it brought. And it was lucky he had woken up today as Izuku. But he knew that could change in an instant.

"Young Midoriya. Over these ten months, you have further proved that you are capable of being the next vessel for One For All." All Might said, standing in his powered down form. "To gain One For All you need to digest a piece of my DNA."

"Huh?" Izuku made a noise full of confused shock. All Might reached up and plucked out one of his blond hairs. He brought his hand down and offered it to Izuku. "Eat this. The entrance exam is within a few hours and you need to inherit it immediately.

Izuku simply nodded and reached for the hair but his arm was suddenly yanked back by none other than Dagger. Izuku's eyes widened in shock as he tried to bring his arm up again.

"Dagger! What are you doing?" Izuku asked, straining against the force of himself.

 **What are you doing?!** Dagger retorted. **Why the hell are you doing this?! We don't need another quirk! We CAN'T rely on someone else's power!**

Izuku stopped struggling and furrowed his eyebrows. Is this what Dagger was so worked up over these past few months?

"Dagger… All Might wants to give us this power. We have to value his wish. To become the next vessel."

 **What about your wishes?! What is having One For All going to do for us? You want to get into U.A riding on someone else's quirk? Do you think ours isn't good enough?! What if we can't even use One For All?!** Dagger growled out and Izuku's fists involuntarily clenched.

"N-no! Of course not!" All Might stood by, watching Izuku deal with his inner turmoil. By now he knew what Izuku was dealing with, being told soon after training started. But he truly did not know what to do or how to handle the situation. He didn't even know the other half of the conversation!

Izuku sighed and hung his head. "This is just the first time anyone had ever expected something from me. And it being All Might? I have to try my best. For everyone."

Dagger remained quiet for a moment and Izuku could feel some of the emotion bubble over from the pool, the most powerful being self-doubt. Izuku frowned. Who was feeling this? It didn't seem like Dagger to feel this way. Was this an emotion that Izuku himself had buried away for Dagger to deal with? Was this the worry of not being worthy enough for One For All?

A wave of guilt overcame him. This was probably why Dagger was so unresponsive the whole summer. He was too caught up in all the negative emotions that Izuku had pushed away. No wonder Dagger had exploded like that.

 **I'm sorry. I know this is important to you. That it means a lot. It isn't my place to take that away from you.**

The pressing feeling on his arm lifted and Izuku was finally able to take the hair that All Might had been holding out all that time.

"I'm sorry about that All Might. But now I'm ready to inherit One For All!" Izuku dropped the hair into his mouth, ignoring how weird it was, and swallowed it. He looked down at himself as if he would buff up right that second.

All Might laughed. "The effects won't happen that fast, and that's not entirely how it works." He crossed his arms, bow full of seriousness. "Now, on the matter of using it. To activate One For All, you have to clench your buttocks and scream, "SMASH!", from the bottom of your heart."

Izuku nodded retaining this new knowledge in his mind. "Now head off to U.A." All Might said, pointing to the direction of the school. "You don't want to be late."

"Right!" Izuku bows his head. "Thank you, All Might. For believing in me." Izuku straightens up and sees All Might smiling. Izuku smiles back and he runs off to the entrance exam. It was time to show what he was made of.

Izuku arrived just in time for the entrance exam, seeing the rest of the students milling inside. Izuku takes a breath, settling his nerves and steps forward, only to trip over his own feet. The Dagger side of him had already sent Void out to steady him, but before it could reach the ground Izuku was floating in mid-air.

He was set back down and saw the girl he assumed had helped him. She had brown hair and eyes and held her hands in a diamond. Her voice was cheerful when she spoke.

"Sorry for just using my quirk on you out of the blue! Besides, it looked like you had it under control!" She gestured to the swirling black mass. Izuku shook his head, waving his hands out in front of him as the Void returned.

"That's okay! You truly did help me! I shouldn't complain or anything like that!" Izuku felt a tug on his feet as they inched forward.

 **C'mon Izuku. We don't have all day.** Dagger sounded impatient. Izuku guessed he was as excited about the exam as Izuku was. **You guys can talk later. If she passes.**

"Sorry, but I'd better get going." Izuku pointed to the building, already moving forward. "Of course!" She replied with a wave.

He was unsure of the fact that Dagger thought that the brown haired girl would be the one with problems getting in. They didn't even know what the exam would be like! How could Dagger be so sure?

Izuku admired the way that Dagger was unwaveringly confident. He could never hope to be like that himself. There were many things Izuku found himself jealous of. Sometimes, it seemed that Dagger was everything he wasn't.

He found his way inside where all of the other applicants were waiting inside an auditorium. At the front of the stage stood a man with tall blond hair and a loud voice, making him seem like a cockatoo. Izuku knew immediately who he was. It was Present Mic whose quirk was Voice, which allowed him to increase the volume of his voice.

"All right you guys! Are you ready?!" Present Mic raised his arms into the air and his voice boomed throughout the large auditorium. "First off, you're gonna take a practical exam and then a written one!"

Izuku was more confident in his ability to do the written test but knew that the practical test would count more to whether he would get in or not.

"In the practical exam," Present Mic pointed to the screen behind him which displayed a city and four silhouettes of large and somewhat menacing robots each with a number from one to three next to them except for one which had a zero. What would be the point of that?

"You need to destroy as many villains as you can and get the highest score!" Izuku took in this information and began to ramble to himself, trying to put together a plan of some sort.

An above approach would work. He'd be able to survey the area and wouldn't be noticed by the robots. And he'd be able to stay out of everyone's way.

Izuku was so caught up in thought that he hadn't even noticed when he was taken outside to his designated battle area. The nerves of before we're catching up with him and a thick layer of nervousness covered him.

He knew that everyone else could see that as well since they looked like they had written him off as someone weak. Some others had worn special gear, no doubt for their quirks. Izuku felt unprepared, only wearing a light green tracksuit. No wonder they thought he was joining to fail.

Izuku saw the brown haired girl from before and lifted a foot towards her. He should probably thank her properly, right? But once again he froze up and didn't move any further. Dagger did have a habit of taking control of Izuku's limbs at any given moment. Izuku was able to do that too. But it was much harder, for both of them, when either of them were using their quirk. It usually brought quick jolts of pain, which was why Izuku only did that in extreme situations.

 **We don't have time for that!** Dagger growled. **We have to be ready for the damn test to start and to leave the rest of these guys in the dust.**

That was true. There didn't seem like a clear indicator that said when the test was going to start. Instead, Izuku tried his best to get towards the front. Being in the very back would only be a disadvantage.

Without any warning, as Izuku thought, Present Mic's voice boomed from wherever he was, shouting one word: "Go!" Along with the other applicants, Izuku ran forward and found his way over to the nearest scalable building. He had to be quick about this. The practical test was only ten minutes long and there was a limited amount of robots.

Izuku raised his arms and Void coiled out from his palms and wrapped itself around his forearms, fashioning it into claws. The claw on his right arm shot out and latched itself into the side of the building. The rest of him soon followed and he brought his other claw up to embed itself into the wall. He climbed up with considerable speed, due to it being only somewhat tall and his newfound strength which allowed him to pull himself up with ease.

As soon as he was on top of the rooftop he ran across it, scanning the landscape around him. He spotted a two pointer robot in almost no time. The army green of the metal stood out against the greys of the city. Izuku made his way to it, unconsciously noting the other robots he saw on the way.

Soon enough he was on the building above it and he dropped down, arms first. On the way down the claws morphed into large fists that had spikes on the end. The robot had no idea Izuku was even there when he plowed through it and the sound of crunching metal filled the air accompanied by a small explosion.

Izuku made his way back up a building, repeating what he had done before with advice from Dagger coming every couple of minutes. Soon he had amassed around 50 points, but he was insanely tired. Using too much Void tired him out. Not to mention the fact that he had it out for a prolonged time. He hadn't even had to use One For All yet.

But Izuku had no idea if he even had enough to pass. He was certain that Katsuki did better than him and so many others here must have too. The brown haired girl from before had probably gotten more points as well.

 **Don't say that! Katsuki probably has his head too far up his ass to think clearly. You're doing better than pretty much everyone here.**

Izuku gave a small smile to himself and he began to run again, looking for any of the remnants of robots left behind. Dagger's opinion was one that was often true. He just had to struggle for the rest of the test and he'd be fine. He didn't have to be first. He just needed to get enough to pass. That was the blinding motivation going through his mind for the rest of the test.

He had only managed to find and take care of a couple more robots. The faux city was full of rubble from both buildings and destroyed robots. Izuku took deep breaths as he rested his palms on his knees.

Izuku stayed like that for a while, catching his breath. His head shot up as the ground under him began to rumble. He only just managed to steady himself as the rumbling shook his whole body. The source of the vibration was coming from the zero pointer robot, which was rising out of the ground.

The sheer size of it made Izuku gulp and stumble backwards, falling on his butt. The picture on the display gave no information about the true size of anything. As the last few hundreds of feet rose out of the ground many of the other applicants had begun to run past him, away from the monstrous machine.

With his eyes wide he watched as the robot advanced and got bigger and bigger, something Izuku didn't know was possible. Only when it had blotted out the sun was when Izuku finally got to his feet, ready to run away himself.

But as he turned to run the unmistakable cry for help rung through his ears. Izuku slowly turned around, searching the streets in front of him. There, almost completely buried under a mountain of rubble was the brunette from before.

Izuku had no second thoughts about rushing forwards. It didn't matter that his legs ached and that he was running towards certain doom. His normal quirk would work for this. It was too large. This was it. Time to use One For All.

All Might's directions repeated itself in his head as Izuku did as told. He bent his knees and clenched his buttocks as he jumped. The pain from that was indescribable. Izuku could tell from that way they loosely waved behind him that his legs were broken. Lifting his head back up and rearing his arm back he felt power rush through it.

"SMASH!" With one punch square in the front, it flew back, small explosions going off along its form. Now Izuku was flying towards the ground. His right arm was broken and he couldn't even think of using the Void. Using One For All again didn't seem to be working at all and the ground was approaching at an alarming rate.

Izuku let out a scream at his incoming death and closed his eyes, waiting for it to be over. The moment where he would become mush on the pavement never came as he felt a slap on his back. He slowly opened his eyes and saw that the brown haired girl was floating on a piece of robot and held her hands in that diamond formation again. Before Izuku could think anything else about it, he passed out, his limbs going limp.

The practical test was over.

* * *

Author's Note: Hello to the people reading this. I know that I was on hiatus for about three weeks, but I'm trying to get a schedule to fall into. I will update this every week and I hope that you guys will continue reading my story. Side note, I've been wanting to add a romance element to my story, but I have so many ships its hard to choose one. If you'd like you can comment what ship you'd like to see. Whichever one I see the most responses on will be included into the story. Thanks again.


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